Chapter 2: Nine Heavens Thunder Prison

"Twelve years of sharpening your blades—now is the moment to prove their edge!"

"With the Special Ability College Entrance Exams approaching, I urge you all to steady your minds like polished mirrors!"

"Civilian Path candidates: Verify your writing tools tonight."

"Combat Path candidates: Triple-check your armor and weapons..."

（Note for Western Readers: In this world, higher education splits into two tracks:

Civilian Path : Focused on governance, science, arts, and non-combat roles. Students with weak combat abilities or low confidence often choose this to live ordinary lives. 

Combat Path : A high-stakes exam testing combat skills against live monsters. Its "classrooms" are steel arenas stained with beast blood. Only the strongest survive.) 

The homeroom teacher Xu Haiping's voice thundered through the classroom. Lin Ye traced the wood grain patterns on his desk, memories surging. 

In Mystic Star's society, the Civilian Path and Combat Path divided destinies. The former produced scholars and administrators; the latter forged warriors who battled beasts beyond city walls. Lin Ye's predecessor—despite his E-grade ability—had stubbornly chosen the Combat Path. Lin Ye agreed: even a sliver of combat power offered hope. Avoiding it meant surrendering to powerlessness...

"Final warning: The Combat Path Exam's fatality rate remains at 7% annually." Xu Haiping tapped the holographic podium, data streams coalescing into crimson warnings. "Those with abilities below D-grade are advised to choose the Civilian Path."

"Registration changes allowed until 9 PM tonight. My office is open to doubters."

"Class dismissed."

Xu Haiping's gaze lingered on Lin Ye—the only E-grade Static Control wielder in Class 7 insisting on the Combat Path. Statistics showed most casualties were D-grade or lower.

"The teacher's worried, but in this world, weakness is fatal..."

Cities in Great Xia relied on electric fences, armies, and Ability User squads for protection. Yet breaches happened. Three months ago, Ning'an City fell to a beast tide. Livestreams showed students in uniforms like Lin Ye's torn apart by Thunderwing Rocs.

"Even with an E-grade ability, I'd choose combat. Now, with an S-grade..."

Lin Ye zipped his tactical backpack, resolve hardening. 

"Still not switching, bro?" His friend Zhou Mingyu twirled an e-pen, his sleeve flashing a StarLoop smartwatch (a luxury wearable hologram device popular among teens). "Heard Thunderstrike Academy's combat sims use live Saber-Toothed Land Drakes this year. Those things bite through titanium!"

"Think I'm scared?" Lin Ye shoved Principles of Ability Particles into his bag, alloy clasps snapping. The orphan knew reality: his parents' pension couldn't shield him from the horrors beyond city walls.

Zhou Mingyu, also E-grade, had abandoned combat training for the Civilian Path. "You're nuts!" He mock-saluted. "Seven E-grades in our class, and you're the only glutton for punishment."

"Joining me?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Nah. I'll be at Silverleaf University, sipping lattes with philosophy majors." Zhou Mingyu winked. "Heroics are your department, 'Future Thunder God.'"

"Screw off."

Lin Ye left, backpack slung over his shoulder.

The apartment echoed with silence. Lin Ye's parents had died in a beast tide, leaving only this home and a modest pension. Solitude was familiar—his past life as an orphan had trained him well.

"Activate Newcomer Gift Package."

Cross-legged on the floor, Lin Ye focused inward. Golden sigils erupted in his mind, morphing into a lightning-forged progress bar:

Ability Evolution: 10%...37%...65%... 

Agony seared his bones. Azure-white lightning erupted from his pores, melting his backpack's alloy clasps. The AI housekeeper bot (a common household android) shrieked:

Critical energy surge! Emergency containment failed!

BOOM—

Raw power detonated. Violet lightning enveloped Lin Ye, transforming him into a human storm.

CRACKLE—HISS!

The living room became an electric forge. Furniture vaporized. Thunderstorms blasted through shattered windows.

Outside, afternoon sunlight vanished. Ominous clouds choked the sky, violet lightning serpents writhing within.

"What's happening?!"

"That lightning... it feels alive!"

At the Municipal Crisis Command Center, a sensor operator gaped. "Energy spike—over 100,000 Spirit Pressure Units!" (Spirit Pressure: A standardized measurement of supernatural energy output.) "Is this... a Lord-grade beast?!"

（Note: Lord-grade beasts are city-level threats requiring armies to subdue.)

Lin Ye floated in a transcendent haze. Lightning chains pierced dimensions; his cells burned and rebirthed.

Then—CRACK!—a primordial thunderbolt struck through the window, merging with his soul.

The storm vanished as suddenly as it came.

Evolution Complete

New Ability: S-class - Nine Heavens Thunder Prison

Lin Ye opened his eyes. A finger's casual swipe left smoldering trenches in steel walls.

He raised his palm. Violet lightning crackled—ancient, predatory, alive.

This isn't a taser.

A single spark could reduce a man to ash.